After months of sustained pressure culminating with thousands of calls and emails to President Ray Hair, the AFM has just officially endorsed the Butch Lewis Act of 2017. We commend them for this act. It is finally a step in the right direction.

However, it is important to note that the AFM and the AFM-EPF are two separate entities. It took months to just get our union to come out publicly in support the Butch Lewis Act. There is still work to be done. We now need to demand that all the AFM-EPF trustees endorse the Butch Lewis Act, not just our union.

More importantly, we must also see to it that the AFM-EPF trustees cooperate with Senator Sherrod Brown's staff. They have repeatedly asked for the trustees to provide actuarial projections. When received, that data will be analyzed by Senator Brown’s actuaries to show how his proposal could benefit our AFM pension fund. To date, the AFM-EPF has not delivered.

We cannot rest easy with the AFM's support of the Butch Lewis Act alone. While it is important, and we are grateful to have it, what we really need is the full commitment of our AFM-EPF trustees toward this important effort.

One thing is clear, our collective voices have been heard! The coming weeks will show plan participants just how serious the AFM and the AFM-EPF trustees are in supporting the Butch Lewis Act.

MPS wants to thank all of you for the constant support and hard work. Monday's calls to President Hair turned into an AFM endorsement of the Butch Lewis Act on Friday. Without your help, it would have not been possible!